The Charlotte Hornets were one of seven teams that didn’t make a trade in the days leading up to last week’s trade deadline. Five of the other six are comfortably in the playoffs while the other (Timberwolves) traded their superstar a couple months ago. There’s always a sense of disappointment that comes with a team standing pat. There are no shiny new toys to cheer for and it may appear that the front office is content with the team as constructed. Although the Hornets were closely linked with Marc Gasol, nothing came of it. It’s easy for fans to think the team didn’t try hard enough.

But sometimes doing nothing is the right thing. That holds true for this iteration of the Hornets. They’re flirting with the luxury tax, so using their $7 million trade exception wasn’t an option. Jeremy Lamb would be valuable to a contender, but he wouldn’t return anything that would help the Hornets make the playoffs this season. Frank Kaminsky was rumored to be on the move, but the Hornets found no buyers. The rest of the Hornets trade assets are either too valuable moving forward or too expensive to net a good return.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Nicolas Batum, Bismack Biyombo, Cody Zeller, and Marvin Williams all make too much money for what they contribute to the team. No team that has room for their salaries wants them as players, and no team that wants them as players can afford those salaries. It was always going to be difficult to move them, even if the Hornets wanted to. That should change this summer. Williams, Kidd-Gilchrist, and Biyombo will all be on expiring deals that total $45 million. On their own, they aren’t super enticing, but they can be attached to a package of young players and future picks to pry a star caliber player away from a team looking to rebuild. It’s what the Mavericks did to land Kristaps Porzingis. It’s not an easy road, but it’s possible. If no trade can be made, all those deals will fall off in the offseason and give the Hornets a hefty amount of cap space.

On the basketball side of things, it makes sense to keep the roster intact. The team has been better the last couple weeks and looks poised to make the playoffs as constructed. That’s been the goal all season and a big roster shakeup could put that at risk.

The Hornets were able to shore up their roster without a trade. They claimed guard Shelvin Mack off waivers to provide some point guard depth while Tony Parker deals with a back injury. It’s the perfect no-risk move to set the team up for the home stretch of the season.

The Hornets need to make the playoffs this season to show Kemba Walker they’re serious about winning. They can do that with this roster. Then, starting this summer, they can use the pieces that are here to build something better.